One Reason the White House May Be Waging War on Fox News

It's a little hard to discern a strategy behind the White House campaign of criticism of Fox News, unless it's this: An attempt to quarantine Fox and thereby discourage other media outlets from following up stories that originate here.

The White House was clearly stung by the revelations about former aide Van Jones. He turned out to have harbored views that were out there where the buses don't run and he was forced to resign.

And the White House could not have much cared for the hidden-camera expose of ACORN, an organization with which the president had a past association and one whose voter registration drives have benefited the Democratic Party.

So the president's aides appear on other news channels to say that Fox, unlike those outlets, is really not a news organization but an arm of the Republican Party.

One wonders how our colleagues at CNN and elsewhere like being patted on the head and given the seal of approval by the White House. These outlets already stand accused of being in the tank for Obama. Do they really want to open themselves up to more such criticism by ignoring legitimate stories because they originate here?

Here at Fox, the attacks have been a boon, especially to the highly opinionated and wildly popular Glenn Beck who has installed a direct phone line on his set and invited the White House to call if they have a beef. So far, no calls.

— Brit Hume is the senior political analyst for Fox News Channel.